System Idle Process slowing down PC a lot, also hijackthis log.

**Wakabo** · 2010-01-23 23:38

Dad's pc been running really slow and when I ctrl/alt/del it shows system idle process as taking up most of the cpu. I tried looking around to figure out what oculd be the cause but couldn't find a decent answer for it. I figured I would do a hijackthis log too if there is anything noticeable that needs to come off as well.

Log.

Spoiler: show

**Tythera** · 2010-01-23 23:45

I hope I'm not whooshing but system idle process is what's supposed to be taking up 99% of your CPU if nothing is happening. It's the percentage of CPU not in use by something.

That being said I can't see anything that strange in the log though I'd personally kill some of those things.

**Wakabo** · 2010-01-24 00:41

Then I am completely lost as to why it would lag up on something so badly. I ran malwarebytes and removed anything harmful it found. Other than that I am open to other opinions.

**GentaiShinigami** · 2010-01-24 02:10

Not sure how much experience you have with computers so I'm just going to post assuming you have little experience to be on the safe side.

It seems there are a lot of processes running at start-up that could be disabled. I recommend you go down the list googling the .exe file names of the processes, and disable them from running at start-up if they are not something that needs to be running literally all the time in the background. Things like Java Quick Start should be disabled for sure unless you use a lot of Java applications, and can't wait a few more seconds for them to load when you do actually use them. Otherwise you are just slowing down your PC at every other moment having that kind of stuff running in the background. It's not worth it to me so I disable all of that kind of stuff from running at start-up.

To disable programs from running at start-up do the following:
1. Start
2. Run
3. Type msconfig and hit Enter
4. Click on the Services tab
5. Uncheck any you don't want starting with Windows.

If something needs to be switched back you just have to recheck the box. It isn't removed permanently it's just disabled. On the next start-up you'll get a dialog box from msconfig saying the configuration changed or something like that. Just click the box saying roughly "start like this and don't bug me next time", and then hit OK. I'm doing this from memory so descriptions may not be exact, but should be good enough for you to find your way.

Obviously, things like your firewall, anti-virus, and other essential things should remain enabled at start-up, but be aware even things like the above sometimes add start-up entries for things you don't really need to have running to gain normal/full functionality. For example, NVIDIA drivers will install things you don't really need running at start-up like the little system tray widget. That tray widget will by default be set to run at start-up on a NVIDIA driver install or upgrade (even if disabled previously, /sigh), and unless you frequently use that little widget it's really just a waste of resources. It doesn't do anything that you can't already do with a couple of extra clicks anyway.

Also, System Idle Process is indeed benign, and should be showing as using most/all of your CPU. It's simply telling you how much CPU is available rather than how much is in use. They really should release an update, and rename that thing to "Free Processor Amount" or something equally descriptive of it's true function. Here is a link to a great site you can use for deciding what things to kill from start-up. I've linked to the entry for System Idle Process, but the search bar is right above it so you can look up the other stuff while clearing out the start-up entries.

http://www.processlibrary.com/direct...dle%20process/

Good luck with it if you need more help with it hit me up in a PM with what you need help with exactly, and I'll give it my best! Take care. ^^

**Deadgye** · 2010-01-24 02:48

They really should release an update, and rename that thing to "Free Processor Amount" or something equally descriptive of it's true function

It's not really hard to figure out that "System idle process" means what's not being used.

**Baelorn** · 2010-01-24 02:51

You might want to keep an eye on HDD activity as well. It can cause just as much lag as CPU or RAM usage especially if the drive is failing.

**Wakabo** · 2010-01-24 19:59

How do I check on HDD status?

**Tajin** · 2010-01-24 20:17

The blinking light on the case or a program to monitor HD activity.

xpAnti-spy is useful to remove unused or rarely used M$ services, also, you might want to uninstall google desktop or all the google bullshit really.

**Olo401** · 2010-01-25 13:17

Gonna echo the thing about having a lotta processes running at startup. There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary in your logfile there.

I will say this though.. I noticed you have Java loading. I'd be willing to guess that is your culprit right there, since from my experience with Java it's an absolute PIG on system resources.

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System Idle Process slowing down PC a lot, also hijackthis log.

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